Inside (2006)

Sometimes I buy those cheap horror dvd sets.  For example, this movie was on a pack of twenty movies for ten dollars.  Now I know that these are low budget and most of them will suck.  But there's always the hope of finding one that is so sincerely inept that it's hysterically funny, or a cheaply done film which is charming despite its limitations. Needless to say, I am usually sorely disappointed.

But what is truly annoying is the trend of putting movies on horror sets that are not even horror movies. Seriously?  There are certainly enough crappy horror movies out there to fill hundreds of horror sets.  So knock it off with trying to pass off other movies as horror.

Case in point, Inside.  While it has similar elements to Stephen King's Misery, Inside doesn't have any of the elements to actually be scary.  The torture scenes are more about brainwashing where they strap him to a bed and make him watch self help dvd's for several days.  Not the same thing at all as getting hit with a sledge hammer or axe.

The premise is that Alex, whose parents died in an accident, likes to follow people and spy on them.  He is particularly taken with a couple who take out the same book over and over from the library where he works.

He follows them home, then watches and listens through the window or back door.  One night he decides to go into the house for a better look and gets caught.  Contrary to most peoples reactions to finding a stranger in their house, the woman asks him to stay because he looks exactly like her dead son. Stupidly enough, Alex does.

After staying overnight, Alex decides to leave and is hit by a car in front of their house.  Instead of calling an ambulance, they decide to nurse him back to health.  The woman believes he actually is their son but doesn't remember them.  The longer the film goes on, the crazier she becomes which might make you think it's a horror flick.  She won't let him go.   Could this be horror? Is she going to kill or maim him?  No.  She's going to pressure him into admitting he's her dead son.  And by pressure I mean  make him watch a self help dvd 24 hours straight and not him feed him until he admits he's her son.  Geez kid, just say it to placate her and get her to unstrap you.

I couldn't feel bad for Alex since he's sneaking into someone's house to listen to them argue, and then hangs out all night bonding with the grieving mom.  Even though he was a prisoner, his room is nice and if he says he's their son, he gets great treatment.  But he's a little slow on the uptake as once he decides to admit to being their son, he doesn't wait long enough to gain their trust before trying to escape. Lame!